Activists fear eviction of Market Street recycling center

People lined up last August outside the San Francisco Community Recyclers center in a Safeway parking lot on Market Street. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

About 30 people gathered Wednesday at the entrance of a nonprofit recycling center in the Safeway parking lot at Market Street and Duboce Avenue in San Francisco to protest what they say is a planned eviction.

“We are expecting (sheriff’s deputies) to show up,” said Lisa Marie Alatorre, an organizer with the Coalition On Homelessness who was part of the group. “We know that evictions happen on Wednesday, and this is a priority eviction.”

Safeway terminated the San Francisco Community Recyclers center’s lease last year and sued the group when it refused to leave. The suit was settled with an agreement that the center would vacate the parking lot June 30, but it’s still there.

Activists say the recycling center is an important economic resource for people who aren’t well-off.

Any eviction would be carried out by deputies with the Sheriff’s Department, headed by Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.

“Ultimately, what we’d like is for the sheriff to take a political stand and not carry out the eviction,” Alatorre said. “We’re waiting to see what decision he makes.”

Representatives of the Sheriff’s Department and Safeway were not immediately available for comment.

Neighbors have complained about noise and traffic from the recycling center. “This center causes very significant impact to the surrounding neighborhood,” Supervisor Scott Wiener said earlier this month. “The people there have been very patient. But it is time for the center to close down.”

Activists are trying to keep Safeway from evicting a recycling center from its Market Street parking lot. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle